'This is the first book I’ve done that has a coherent theme,' says David Shrigley. 'I made this big body of work last year and then I thought: what is this about? It seemed a good time to reflect on what my subject was after all this time. And I kind of thought it’s about emotional anxiety … '

'I think what I do is really a view of psychosis written from the point of view of someone who is a bit mad but thinks everyone else is madder. I sat down and wrote text and lists of statements then I tried to match these statements with the drawings I had done.'

'We tend to have an idea of wellbeing and good mental health as an absolute, a constant,' says Shrigley. 'But it is really arrived at by a sort of ongoing consensus. You find yourself asking your partner: do you think I’m mad? The correct answer to this question is, of course: no, darling. But it would be quite easy to get the wrong end of the stick.'

'If I felt I needed therapy, I would,' says Shrigley. 'But I wouldn’t do it to find out what my work was about. I guess I’m quite a functional person. I relate pretty well to my wife and my dog. I have some friends. I guess I’m doing OK.'

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The offbeat comedy and homemade asethetic of David Shrigley's drawings burst on to the art scene in the early 90s and have spawned many imitators. Now he has a new string to his bow: self-help author. Can he be serious, asks Tim Adams